tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post7220606719680050697..comments2024-03-28T13:18:55.978-04:00Comments on the daily howler: Would Vladimir Putin use a nuke?<b>bob somerby</b>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02963464534685954436noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-83277591115735480232022-03-08T16:17:20.281-05:002022-03-08T16:17:20.281-05:00Exactly. In a democracy people should hold their ...Exactly. In a democracy people should hold their own leaders to account.Bob Gardnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07197194985124246161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-5228237020982967712022-03-07T20:00:26.775-05:002022-03-07T20:00:26.775-05:00"If Putin uses nuclear weapons, that will be ..."If Putin uses nuclear weapons, that will be on him...."<br /><br />Nitwit remark of the year.FDRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06987676214157655750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-8722829181725643172022-03-07T19:59:14.261-05:002022-03-07T19:59:14.261-05:00Putin is as sane as the people who brought us Kore...Putin is as sane as the people who brought us Korea, Vietnam, Iran-Contra, Nicaragua, and Iraq. FDRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06987676214157655750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-63280091559545837682022-03-07T19:04:50.841-05:002022-03-07T19:04:50.841-05:00I quoted the wall Street journal, and here's t...I quoted the wall Street journal, and here's the new York times to boot. <br /><br />"A Russian incursion into Ukraine could, in a perverse way, save the current European order. NATO would have no choice but to respond assertively, bringing in stiff sanctions and acting in decisive unity. By hardening the conflict, Mr. Putin could cohere his opponents"<br /><br /><br />Here's something I wouldn't say to any battered women:<br /><br />"Today, geopolitical strength is determined not by how much economic power you can wield, but by how much pain you can endure. "<br /><br />Read my rephrase of this strategy above again about showing your neighborhood how dangerous your husband is by letting him beat the crap out of your neighbor's wife. <br /><br />https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/opinion/putin-russia-ukraine-europe.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-91914944124486174712022-03-07T18:49:21.009-05:002022-03-07T18:49:21.009-05:00What public record are you talking about?What public record are you talking about?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-17585909953575341722022-03-07T18:33:21.044-05:002022-03-07T18:33:21.044-05:00I'll believe the public record over your colle...I'll believe the public record over your college psychology class. I think you could put more effort into reading. It's not clear from your reply that you do. Rodneynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-62757589917662531692022-03-07T18:26:36.549-05:002022-03-07T18:26:36.549-05:00His behavior makes sense if the reports that he...His behavior makes sense if the reports that he's taking steroids are true! Typical, "roid rage."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06063169972037258345noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-80601969896972854172022-03-07T18:18:02.190-05:002022-03-07T18:18:02.190-05:00More often, the man threatens to beat or even kill...More often, the man threatens to beat or even kill the children in order to control the woman.<br /><br />Friedman and Somerby are talking about nukes, not just invasion. That is like a domestic violence equivalent of murder-suicide, which does happen in families usually because of depression and desperation, not craziness.Not a rodenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02216459357112547141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-1478817219837527682022-03-07T18:10:46.024-05:002022-03-07T18:10:46.024-05:00Being crazy is an asset when negotiating. It woul...Being crazy is an asset when negotiating. It would be a reasonable tactic for Putin to feign being the kind of person who might start a nuclear war. How can an outsider figure out whether Putin is crazy or just pretending?<br /><br />Second point: Someone from a different culture may appear crazy to us, when he's actually just different.David in Calhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10222355423128534221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-72217473489187774572022-03-07T18:06:55.863-05:002022-03-07T18:06:55.863-05:00How often do you see women form a strategy that th...How often do you see women form a strategy that the husband should beat their neighbor to unite the neighborhood against him?<br /><br />"An invasion would be a diplomatic, economic and military mistake for Putin. Let him make it if he must." <br /><br /><br />https://www.wsj.com/articles/strategic-case-risking-war-ukraine-russia-invasion-putin-national-security-nato-europe-eu-11640186454<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-78894318210735098132022-03-07T16:57:03.360-05:002022-03-07T16:57:03.360-05:00Who benefits from Somerby's attempts to scare ...Who benefits from Somerby's attempts to scare us? Are members of the left in the US going around warning that Putin is a madman with a lot of nukes, so we'd better watch out? Or is this how the right tries to coerce the left into leaving Putin alone? Or perhaps Somerby wants to suggest that we would be better off with Putin's good-buddy Trump back in office, so he won't nuke us all to hell. If this sounds like blackmail, I think it is. Special question for AC/MA, what is Somerby doing by trying to get the west to lighten up on Putin in case he goes irrational and nukes someone? Is this the way liberals approach the Ukraine invasion?Not a rodenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02216459357112547141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-34892513796234750832022-03-07T16:53:16.248-05:002022-03-07T16:53:16.248-05:00It was astute of Clinton to mention that the main ...It was astute of Clinton to mention that the main victims of Putin's actions are the Russian people themselves.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-51588890360078241352022-03-07T16:51:19.460-05:002022-03-07T16:51:19.460-05:00The logic Somerby uses here is very similar to tha...The logic Somerby uses here is very similar to that found in domestic violence situations. When a violent man harms a woman, it is because she forced him into it by her failure to please him. That sounds dangerously close to Somerby's hints that if we impose sanctions on Putin for being a bad guy, we will have caused him to do something violent and we will be to blame, not Putin himself. Violent people only respect strength. Behaving in an appeasing manner will increase Putin's sense that he can do whatever he wishes and it will increase his contempt for those opposing him. He will feel less restraint, not more restraint, if no one stands up to him for his current wrongdoing.<br /><br />Did Trump behave better when everyone rolled over for him? Of course not. And Putin is little different, no matter how crazy Somerby suggests he may be.Not a rodenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02216459357112547141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-35091784022141677662022-03-07T16:47:43.952-05:002022-03-07T16:47:43.952-05:00If Putin uses nuclear weapons, that will be on him...If Putin uses nuclear weapons, that will be on him, not the fault of those who are trying to stop him from behaving badly.<br /><br />It may be difficult to realize that we have little control over someone else with nuclear weapons, but that is our position. If he uses them, it won't be because we forced him to do it. It will be because he has chosen to do it. <br /><br />Surely even Friedman learned something from WWII and Hitler? It does not work to appease someone whose goal is to take over other countries until stopped, who has no self-restraint and will continue doing bad things to other people until someone stops him. Stopping such a person sooner rather than later is the way to minimize the damage done. Claiming that opposing Putin will make him use nukes is colluding with Putin. <br /><br />It is uncomfortable seeing grown men, with some intelligence, such as Friedman, so frightened that they will suggest untenable acts, such as letting Putin do what he wants without consequences because he might do something scary. Most of us liberals were frightened the entire time that Trump was in office, for fear he would try to stop a hurricane by nuking the eye, or send an F-22 to bomb Russia with a Chinese flag on it, to fool them into blaming China.<br /><br />Putin will do what he is going to do, and we must do the right thing to protect others from Putin's actions. But let's not be confused about who will be responsible if Putin decides to use nuclear weapons. It will be Putin to blame, not "the West."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-5322797600685736852022-03-07T16:33:19.850-05:002022-03-07T16:33:19.850-05:00Somerby seems to think that if someone is mentally...Somerby seems to think that if someone is mentally ill, that they cannot control their own behavior, that they have no knowledge of right and wrong, and that they have no responsibility for their own behavior. None of this follows automatically from the fact of mental illness. It takes a separate, clinical determination to say that Putin doesn't know what he is doing or cannot control what he is doing.<br /><br />It seems very predictable that Somerby, who excused Trump on the grounds of mental illness, is now saying the same things about Putin. If it were determined with 100% certainty that Putin is mentally ill, that wouldn't change a single thing about how "the West" should deal with him. It is fairly certain that both Stalin and Hitler were "mentally ill," but they still had to be opposed and stopped. You don't give in to evil simply because the person engaged in it is abnormal. If they were normal, they wouldn't be doing such things. "The West" is trying to stop Putin using the tools it has to deal with him. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-75251960958728107152022-03-07T16:24:22.821-05:002022-03-07T16:24:22.821-05:00"Hillary Clinton isn't a medical speciali..."Hillary Clinton isn't a medical specialist. To her credit, she stayed away from funhouse language as she suggested the possibility that Putin might be "facing some health challenge," "some kind of physical or mental problems."<br /><br />And this is exactly the way Somerby should talk about Putin or Trump or anyone else exhibiting strange behavior.<br /><br />He could learn a lot from Clinton, someone he has never said a good word about.Not a rodenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02216459357112547141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-60100910617344557162022-03-07T16:14:57.211-05:002022-03-07T16:14:57.211-05:00Yeah, with 78% (the last we checked) approval The ...<br />Yeah, with 78% (the last we checked) approval The Dark Lord Putin just <i>has to be</i> insane. Right, dear Bob? <br /><br />Any national leader with more than 40% approval (does BoJo have 22% now?) is a tyrant, and insane, and irrational; yeah, we get that. <br /><br />...incidentally, we find it genuinely amazing that someone still reads Thomas Friedman. Meh, on the second thought, that's exactly what we would expect from dear Bob. You poor thing...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com